Composition doll 2 from Kathleen

Funny....I thought that the first doll Kathleen sent me would the most intriguing, but #2 doll is bring up rear and speeding past the first one in terms of learning new things.
What we first see with her is that her breastplate is broken, most doll lovers would give her up to the trash because of this, it can be fixed although tough.
As I look closer at this sweetie I can see a child has used nail polish to paint the lips, *sigh* it is a pretty color though and I think I'll stick with it.


I'm not really convinced this little lady needs re-wigging although her hair was very dirty. The enemy of a doll's wig, or for that matter any doll hair....is dust. It collects and sticks in balls when trying to comb the hair, this doll was no exception and she had very poorly maintained braids that needed the ribbon cut in several spots.
Can you see what her torso is stuffed with? It can be seen in the loose seam at her shoulder. It's like a wood strip, interesting indeed.

Once I unwound the braids I discovered this lovely buttery color, she was is dire need of a shampoo. Not just any shampoo as it's a sin to wet the composition of a doll, mainly because composition is wood shavings/pulp mixed with glue and pressed in a mold. Wetting it would cause it to break down. I had to soap small handfuls of hair then I conditioned each one for better manageability.

You can see her shoulder seam and what she is made of, in this photo better than the other one, neat huh?

I'm also trying a new procedure that allows the originality of the composition to stay with this doll. Since she had minimal crazing, mostly in the first layer of paint, I can use a acrylic dabbed on a soft cloth and rubbed, in circles, on the dolls face.
It acted a filler, below is a photo of her hair/composition 1/2 done, it's a great improvement. I had not washed her bang at this point because I contemplating cutting them, we'll see.

It seems to have done the trick so I will continue with filling and polishing in hopes she will look better. I'm thinking I will try this with doll#1, after I fill the hole by her mouth that is.

Can you see her leg is stuffed with a different material? It's almost a clothing lint, durable to say the least.



Kathleen sent me the stray leg and it arrived safely today, I'm taking advantage of this loose appendage and stuffing it with a dated piece of newspaper before I sew it back to the body. Usually I do this with the head but it really doesn't matter, it's just a indication of a restoration date, and to me....I feel better doing it.
C&G Design